Pasteurizing apparatus



Nqv. 2, 1943. G. J. MEYER y PAS TEURI Z ING APPARATUS Filed Ainril 25, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 ENTOR 233 GEORGE J. MEYER RNEY No www QN NW OW H .HNNI

Byw /QM ,'A TO Nov. A2,'1943.` GK. J. MEYER 2,333,544

PASTEUR'I Z ING APPARATUS Filed April 23, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2fv /N VE N TOR GE of? GE MEYER BY @www ATTOQNEY Patented Nov. 2, 1943 estates A PASTEURIZNG PP-.RTUS George J. Meyer, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Geo.

J. 'Meyer Manufacturing `Company,

Cudahy, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application April 23, 1941, SerialNo. 389,853

\ (ci. sei- 36m Y 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for sterilizing or pasteurizing packaged goods, su'ch as canned and bottled beer.

l Pasteurizers have heretofore been devised in which packaged goods are subjected to the action of hot water or other liquid, as by means of sprays and baths. It has been customary to conduct the goods through a pasteurizer of this type by means of an endless chain conveyer. Such construction, in addition to being relatively -expensive, includes numerous moving parts and bearing surfaces which are subject to the destructive or corrosive action of the water and which are diflicult to lubricate, and neglect of the attend- 'f ant may -cause liniuryror damage.to the mechanism.

It is an object of theinvention to provide an improved and eicient pasteurizer which is of simple and inexpensive construction with relatively few moving parts, and which is so arranged,

that'the bearing surfaces or pivots of the mechanism are free from the corrosive action of the water and are disposed in readily accessible position.

Another` object is` to provide a pasteurizer which requires but little power for operation, which is capable of easy lubrication, and which will avoid transfer of lubricant to the .pasteurizing water.

y A further object is to provide a simplified pasteurizer which will permit both spraying and immersion of the goodsv in .t the machine. 'The invention further consists in .the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

` In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l-is a side elevation of a pasteurizer constructed in accordance with the invention;

Y Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the pasteurizer;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top view, parts being broken awayi- Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an intermediate .portion of the pasteurizer, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig.` 5 is a. longitudinal sectional elevation oi a portion of the pasteurize'r, showing a conveyer thereof Fig'. 6 is a 4transverse sectional elevation taken generally along the line t-6 of Fig. l;

Fig. rI is a detail elevation of suspension or lifting means for the conveyer, and

housing having therein a longitudinally extending lsterilizing chamber or passage II through which are conducted the goods I2 to be pasteurized, such as bottles or cans of beer, the chamber being open at opposite ends for the admission and discharge of the goods. The goods are carried through the chamber by a conveyer or carrier designated generally by I3 and hereinafter more fully described. The upper portion of the housing is provided with'a series of water comfpartments or pans I4 which are closed by cover plates I5 and-have perforated bottom plates I6 for sprayingI or showeringl water vdownwardly i through the sterilizing chamber, the water sprays eir passage through Fig. 8 is a detail elevation of a lifting lever mounting.

In the drawings, I0 designates an elongated .impinging onv .the bottles or other containers traveling through the chamber. The lower .portion of the housing .is provided with a series of collecting tanks or reservoirs Il, i8, I9, 20, 2i,

and 22 to catch the sprayed Water. As usual in spray-type pasteurizers, the water is circulated through the housing, being pumped fromo the collecting tanksA to the spray pans through suitable lducts 23. Some of the tanks are provided with steam coils 24 for heating the water, and the several tanks are provided with lateral clean-out closures 25. The entrance portion of the sterilizy ing chamber II forms a tempering or preheating zone for the incoming beer containers, and the exit portion oi the chamber forms a cooling zone.k The circulation of the Water is preferably so arranged as to provide a regenerative action for reducing heat loss,v as isl well understood in this art.

An immersion tank 26 is formed in the housing between the ends of the intermediate collecting tank y2l) and has a bottom wall spaced above the bottom wall of the housing. r The hot water collecting in the immersion tank overows at the front and rear end walls of this tank into the'collecting tank 20. The conveyer I3 has a depressed intermediate portion which extends or dips into the immersion tank 26vso as to wholly or partially immerse the beer containers `during their travel.

The conveyer I3 comprises two sets of laterally spaced bars or rails 2l and 28 which extend longitudinally of the sterilizing chamber Ii to form gratings for supporting thereon the upright cans or bottles i2. The rails 2l are stationary and are r described, the bars having downwardly projecting ears 3l secured to the cross beams 30. Each of the rails 21 and 28 is preferably of wedgeshaped cross-section with, the longer dimension of the cross-section arranged vertically and with the wider edge at. the top, as seen in Fig.` 6. The

cross beams 3l)l for the movable grating rails also carry guard bars 32 near the side walls of the housing I0, these guard bars extending higher than the grating rails soi as to space the. beer containers from the housing side walls. The opposite ends of the movable cross beams 30 extend through openings 33 formed in the side walls of the housing I and are provided with bearing members or trunnions 34 which are fulcrumed on thelower ends of suspension or lifting links 35. Each trunnion extends loosely into an eye 36 of the corresponding link and has a wedgeshaped bearing edge 31 rockably resting on a Yhardened metal'block 38, Figs. 6 and 7, set into the link. Upwardly opening pockets 39 are formed on. the side walls of the housing in communication with the respective openings 33 to prevent loss of water from the housing. The openings 33, which permit the Water from the tanks to enter the Dockets, are preferably small so. as to minimize spraying of water into the Y pockets, and the pockets extend well above the openings. The cross-beam bearingsV are spaced above the water levels in the tanks so as to be free from the action of the Water. Two of the movable cross beams extend across the immersion tank 26, and the housing pockets for the ends of these cross beams communicate with thistank. When the several tanks are emptied the water drains from the pockets through the openings v 33.

The upper ends of the lifting links are pivotally carried by the horizontal arms of levers 40 and 4| at opposite sides of the housing, each lever carrying a counterweight 42 to assist in balancing the weight of the movable grating. The levers 40 and 4I in each. pair are supported on the upper edges of wedge-like fulcrums 43 formed on theF 4ends of a horizontal shaft M which extends transversely above the housing, each shaft being carried by brackets 45 fastened to the opposite side walls4 of the housing, and each lever having an opening 46 with upwardly converging walls 41 to receive the corresponding fulcrum. 4The bearing surfaces are suitably hardened to reduce wear. The levers lll at one side of the housing are in the form of bell-cranks and have respective downwardly projecting arms I8 spaced outwardly from the plane of the lifting links to clear the pockets 39. The pairs of levers All and 4I are divided into two groups extending from the opposite ends of the housing. The downwardly projecting arms of the two groups of levers 40 are pivotally secured to respective rods I9. and 50, one for each group. If desired, the levers 4I at the lever 40 of the front group of liftingv levers by a connecting rod 82, and the other of which is connected to the adjacent bell-crank lever of the rear group of lifting levers by a connecting rod 83. This opposed crank motion serves to reduce driving stresses on the mechanism and insures smooth and easy operation. The crank shaft 60 has a crank 64 which is connected by a connecting rod 65 with adownward extension 66, Fig. ,4; of the nearest lifting link of the front group of levers.

' The pocket 39 for this lifting link is suitably apertured to'provide clearance for the connecting rod 55. The crank shafts 59 and 60 have the same slow speed of rotation and their cranks have aphase angle spacing `of approximately 90 and areso related as to provide an elliptical path of travel for the movable grating rails, these rails moving forwardly at a time when their upper edges are higher than the stationary grating rails and moving rearwardly at a time when they' are lower than the upper edges of the stationaryV rails. The vertical travel of the movable grating rails is small compared with their longitudinal travel. On their forward travel the then elevated movable grating rails support the containers and advance them a short distance, and on their rearward travel these rails are depressed, the advanced containers then resting on the stationary grating rails. It Will be obvious that the feeding action of the gratings could be provided in other ways, as by longitudinally reciprocating one set of grat- .ing rails and vertically reciprocating the other set, or by imparting an ellipticall motion to both sets of rails in opposite phase relation. but these modifications would require a more complicated construction. 4

The beer containers are loaded onto the conveyer I3 either manually or by any suitable loading mechanism. In one form of mechanism theV containers are carried by a feeding belt 6l which extends transversely of the housing adjacent to the operi end of the sterilizing chamber, the le of containers on the belt being limited in their travel by astop 68 and .being transferred onto the reeciving end of the conveyer I3 by a reciprocatory pusher bar 69. At the discharge end of the conveyer the containers are transferred'to a crss belt 1I! or other. suitable support.

In operation, the containers I2 are loaded onto the receiving end of the conveyer `I3 at the open end of the housing I0. The containers are Iadother sidefof themachine may be similarly arranged.

At one side wall of the housing, and between the two groups of levers, is mounted an actuating mechanism for the movable grating. A horizontal shaft 5I is rotatably supported-by the housing and carries a pulley 52 belt-driven by any suitable source of power. A pinion 53 on the pulley shaft meshes with a gear 5I on a horizontal intermediate shaft 55, and plnions 56 on the intermediate shaftmesh with gears 51 and 58 on respective horizontal crank shafts 59 and 6b. The crank shaft 59 Vhas opposed cranks Il, one

of which is connected to the adjacent bell-crank vanced slowly through thechamber vII and, after being gradually heatedto pasteurizing temperature by the water sprays, are maintained at pasteurizing temperature for a suitable period and then' gradually cooled and discharged from the chamber. At the intermediate portion of the chamber II the containers are immersed in the hot water tank 28 so as to provide thorough and uniform heating. 'Ihe slope j-'of the containersupporting rails of the conveyer is suiliciently small to prevent tipping of the containers or interference with feeding, while still providing for 

